April 30, 2009

Time sure does fly when you're having fun planning a weekend-long wine jaunt for 30 bloggers and spouses.

As early as tomorrow morning, TasteCamp EAST 2009 attendees will start descending on the North Fork of Long Island. The plans have really come together nicely and despite a grey, rainy weather forecast, I think we're going to have a lot of fun.

Check back over the weekend and next week for posts about the goings on, but you can also keep up with all the TasteCamp fun on Twitter.

Of course, TasteCamp wouldn't be possible without the help of the local wine industry. I'd like to thank these sponsors and partners for their contributions:

Dave Whiting does not simply want Red Newt to survive. He wants it to thrive, and he admits that it's tougher now than ever.

"Ten, twenty years ago you could open a winery in the Finger Lakes, open the doors, and be viable as long as the wine was decent," Whiting said after bottling a wine that he thinks will make a serious impact in markets outside New York state. "Now, with more wineries opening and production rising, you have to find ways to differentiate yourself. I don't just want to increase production. I want to focus on what I believe we do best, and before anything else, that's riesling."

So here's Red Newt's blueprint:

Crank up riesling production.

Offer it at a price point to compete with high-volume producers such as Chateau Ste Michelle and Covey Run.

Make it better than those high-volume producers.

Ditch the marginal wines, otherwise known as chardonnay and sauvignon blanc for Red Newt.

If this works, it could become the model for other mid-size Finger Lakes wineries.

Red Newt's riesling production is jumping from 800 cases in 2007 to 2800 cases in 2008, and it should rise to well over 8000 cases within four years. Whiting has contracted plantings with several local growers, and there are now 20 new acres of Riesling in the ground, all of it earmarked for Red Newt.

The winery will still produce a Dry Riesling and the Reserve Riesling will sell for around $22, but most of the Riesling production will be devoted to the new, so-called "Circle Riesling" -- the unofficial name is a kind of joke at the winery that comes from the circular label on the bottle.

"We think this wine is a breakout wine that will compete extremely well with wines from other regions," Whiting said about his new wine that clocks in at 3.2% residual sugar. The idea came not long ago, he said, when he was in a local wine store.

"I walked into the Finger Lakes aisle and everything was about $14 or $15. The Finger Lakes tends to offer a lot more in a riesling when it comes to fruit intensity and structure, but the market is price-sensitive. It's time to enter into a pricepoint that is a little bit lower so we can be highly competitive."

Circle Riesling will retail for $11.99. "It's definitely a medium-sweet wine, and that's by design," Whiting explained. "It's similar in sweetness to what you'll find from the high-volume producers, but we think it's much crisper and carries more structure."

NExt is ditching the marginal wines. Whiting enjoys a good sauvignon blanc or chardonnay, but it's clearly not where his passion lies as a winemaker.

"Every winery doesn't have to make every variety of wine," he said. "Our sales of chardonnay are not huge. It's steady, but I think there are a good number of excellent Finger Lakes chardonnays out there that could pick up the slack for us. Same with sauvignon blanc. Those wines will not be a permanent part of our portfolio."

That means visitors won't see a Red Newt chardonnay or sauvignon blanc beginning with the 2009 vintage. "We think our long-term success rides on riesling, then other aromatic whites, and certainly in many years our reds. But it might change from year-to-year, based on the vintage. I just don't anticipate chardonnay or sauvignon blanc being a part of it."

"There's a certain danger to being caught in the middle," he said. "We're now making about fifteen thousand cases a year. We're not a boutique but we're not a huge producer. We don't want to lose a sense of what we do best because we're trying to do too much. So we're shedding the parts that are not the core of what we do best at Red Newt."

In other words, in the world of wine, a Red Newt must remain a Red Newt -- it can not be a chameleon.

The price tag on the Circle Riesling is made to compete with wine from around the world, but Whiting stressed it's not an indication of lesser quality.

"We're more focused than ever on quality," he said. "If we weren't we'd have no chance."

And when it comes to Red Newt's two single-vineyard Gewurztraminers, which have earned rave reviews, Whiting acknowledged the price tag can be jarring to some consumers -- the Sawmill Creek retails for $36 and the Curry Creek sells for $42.

""There's a real opportuity to offer value at every pricepoint," he said. "This is not just talk. If you're doing it right you're giving the consumer excellent value in each wine. We think that's true for the Circle Riesling and for the Gewurztraminers. Those Gewurztraminers comapre very favorably in quality and price to many highly regarded Alsatian Gewurztraminers, so we're confident our customers will find value in them."

Red Newt is patient with the new plan but eager to get started. The Circle Riesling will be on shelves within days. And while the recent critical success helps, Whiting and his staff understand that it is ultimately the consumer, not the critic, who will decide whether their new philosophy is the right one.

Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard and its wines reside somewhere in the middle of Long Island wine. Their wines are often good, not great, and none of them retails for more than $21. In an industry with sweet, magnum-bottled blends of dubious origin on one end and $125 merlot on the other, Baiting Hollow is perfectly middle class.

This riesling fits that model a bit too.

They are planting their own riesling vines this spring, but as I mentioned earlier, this wine was made from grapes grown in the Finger Lakes.

I really like the nose on this riesling. It shows nice green apple and just-ripe peach aromas with a little spicy-floral note in the background.

With 2% residual sugar, it's clearly made in the popular "off-dry" style. The flavors are fruity -- apple, peach and a little melon -- but it really lacks the acidity needed to bring balance, especially on the finish where a little citrus peeks through.

This is the kind of riesling that will probably fly off the shelf in their tasting room, but I prefer my riesling a bit more racy.

May is riesling month in the Finger Lakes, but it's rosé season in Long Island wine country.

Throughout the month of May, participating Long Island wineries will be featuring newly released rosés in a benefit for the American Cancer Society. Wineries will be offering special rosé tastings, many paired with food prepared by local chefs or accompanied by live music. One dollar from the sale of all rosés during the month will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

May is Riesling Month in Finger Lakes Wine Country and, while the name could use some work, it looks like a great program.

Throughout the month of May, many Finger Lakes wineries, restaurants and hotels will be offering special deals. The goings on are too numerous to list in a single blog post (you can see them here) but here are some of the highlights:

Free Shipping on Riesling (All Month)Several Finger Lakes wineries will be offering free shipping on riesling purchases through their websites. Unfortunately, some wineries missed the point here and want you to buy an entire case to get free shipping. Lame. See the list of participating wineries

Rieslings in Riedel at Rooster Hill Winery (All Month)
Visitors in the tasting room will be able to do a side-by-side tasting of the winery's semi-dry and dry rieslings in both the regular tasting room glasses and glasses that Riedel produces specifically for riesling. I'm not a believer in varietal glassware yet, but this should be interesting. Visit Rooster Hill's website for details.

Ravines Wine Cellars Winemaker Dinner at La Tourelle Resort in Ithaca (May 1&2)Ravines' co-owner and winemaker, Morten Hallgren, is one of my favorite makers of Finger Lakes riesling, so this dinner, which includes 4 courses for $75 should be outstanding. Visit the Ravines website for more information.

Winemaker's Riesling Dinner at Fox Run Vineyards (May 9)
Owner Scott Osborn and winemaker Peter Bell will lead diners through a special riesling-focused meal. Visit the Fox Run website to make your reservation.

10-Year Riesling Vertical at Wiemer Vineyard (May 9)
It's not every day that you get a chance to taste a decade's worth of riesling from one of the Finger Lakes' best producers. I wish I could make the drive up for this one. RSVP required via the Wiemer website.

Riesling Rendezvous at the New York Wine & Culinary Center (May 15)
This walk-about tasting offers the chance to taste riesling from more than 40 New York wineries paired with local cuisine and includes a special tasting of older-vintage rieslings. Tickets are $55 via nywcc.com.

Future, Present and Past Rieslings at Sheldrake Point Vineyard (May 31) Join winemaker David Breeden and taste rieslings from several vintages, including a preview of the unreleased 2008 rieslings and library wines that are no longer available anywhere else. Tickets required via Sheldrake Point's website.

I probably won't be able to take part in any of the above events, but I will be able to attend the trade-only Riesling Summit
at the Astor Center next Tuesday. The Summit includes a guided tasting that will compare the best Finger Lakes rieslings with those from other top regions in the world, followed by the Aromatic White Wine Showcase, a walk-around tasting of Finger Lakes aromatic whites that will include currently available 2007
wines, special samples of soon-to-be-released 2008
wines and several older vintages.

April 28, 2009

When it comes to Long Island sauvignon blanc, there is a small group of wineries that can be counted on to deliver consisten quality. Macari Vineyards is one of those wineries and puts out one of the region's best sauvignons.

This is a wine that I look forward to every spring (when its released) and drink plenty of all summer long, even if I don't eat all of the great local shellfish that this wine is seemingly destined to be enjoyed with.

Most of the grapes than went into Macari Vineyards 2008 "Katherine's Field" Sauvignon Blanc ($22) come from their Block K (Katherine's Field), which is the part of their vineyard closest to the Long Island Sound between 100 and 150 feet above sea level.

Farmed to 2.5 tons per acre, the fruit was hand harvested, steel fermented and malolactic fermentation was strictly avoided.

This year's wine is far lighter in color that previous vintages. The green-yellow is so light that the wine is nearly colorless. The nose is nicly citrusy and grassy with hints of basil and gooseberries.

On the palate, it's a bit more delicate than past years, but it shows tremendous balance between citrusy fruit flavors, savory herb and grass notes, and snappy, lively acidity. The finish is lengthy with persistent saline minerality that the best Long Island sauvignon often has.

As I mentioned last week,I was asked to judge the Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association's 5th Annual Hudson Valley Wine Competition over the weekend, and I have to tell you, I had a blast doing it. I met some great people for the first time, including the Hudson Valley Wine Goddess, Colleen from Brotherhood Winery, Brian Simpson, Tish and the Beer Wench.

The wines entered in the competition need to be made with 100% New York State grapes, preferably grapes grown in the Hudson Valley. There were 80 entries from approximately 15 Hudson Valley Wineries.

The full results of the competition should be released sometime this week, but I came away from my first judging experience having learned several things:

There are some very good wines being made with Hudson Valley-grown grapes, not just fruit purchased from Long Island and the Finger Lakes (though that is still widespread).

It's true what they say about wines with 'something different' standing out. There was a cabernet with a distinct rosemary-eucalyptus note that I kept coming back to. It really made the wine stand out in that flight.

Red hybrids can bring some great flavors to the table, but wow, their acidity can be mouth slashing.

There are some terrific, thirst-quenching ciders being made in the Hudson Valley

Some interesting fortified dessert wines too.

Most of the white hybrids are still too sweet.

The overall quality, at least of the wines I tasted Saturday, seem to be improving.

A few wineries are charging a lot of money for middling wines made with hybrid grapes, as much as $30

Cabernet franc might be the grape of the future for the region.

And boy can judges differ in how they score wines. Amazing just how much.

Once the results are posted (and I get copies of my scoresheets back) I'll share more details on specific wines.

I'd like to thank the organizers for inviting me to judge and I look forward to judging the competition again next year.

In addition to the wine aspect of the day, it was interesting to see
just how interested (for the most part) people were in hearing about
blogging and Twitter.

I turned 34 for Sunday, but my birthday celebration was spread out over two weekends.

First, we had dinner with friends at Kitchen -- A Bistro, our favorite BYOB place with amazing food, two Saturdays ago. The wine of the night, which was delicious with both my chestnut parpadelle with duck confit and my venison tenderloin, was Roanoke Vineyards 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon. I have one more bottle left and as tempting as it is to open it soon, I don't think this wine is even peaking yet.

Then on my actual birthday, we took Jackson out to wine country, not for wine, but for cheese and vegetables. Our first stop was at Catapano Dairy Farm so Jackson could visit the goats and we could pick up some of their ridiculously good fresh cheese. This is some seriously good goat cheese people. If you're on the North Fork, get some. You won't be sorry.

After stopping at Garden of Eve Organic Farm to pick up our CSA share we had some friends over who couldn't make dinner the previous weekend. We had some great wines, mostly Finger Lakes rieslings, but the one that stood out was Sheldrake Point's 2005 Riesling, On a hot summer day, it was refreshing and surprisingly complex.

So thanks to everyone for celebrating my birthday in various ways. We'll do it again next year.

April 27, 2009

Even though this is a New York wine blog, non-NY wines do make their way into my cellar, into my glass and ultimately into my mouth. Wine Blogging Wednesday is often the reason, and May's edition (the 57th) of WBW, hosted by my friend Jeff at Good Grape, will force me once again to leave local wines for at least a day.

Because Mondavi was such an inspiration physically, spiritually and
philosophically to so many – both in the industry and to consumers,
while acting as the forefather of the modern California wine movement,
I would like for WBW participants to revisit a California wine that
they have enjoyed, or have a particular fond memory of, and tell a
story.

Simply, Mondavi promoted an air of inclusiveness, not exclusiveness,
conducting many of his business practices around a philosophy of aiding
other wineries in knowledge and practices to create a profile for
California wine that would rival the world’s finest wines.

The easy route for this theme would be to taste a Mondavi wine, but
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Mondavi would have preferred
an air of openness. No good is accomplished by a singularity of
purpose that acts as an exclusionary barrier for others.

Please go buy or pull from your stash, a bottle of whatever that
California wine was that created a memorable chapter in your life, revisit the
bottle, and share your story.

I don't have a Mondavi wine that inspired me or pushed me forward in my journey (obsession) with wine, but there are a few California wines that fit the bill. Stay tuned to see which ones and why.

Join us on May 13 as we celebrate the life of Robert Mondavi and the wines and wine industry he helped create.

A quick review of a very affordable local sauvignon blanc this Monday morning.

I really liked the 2006 edition of this wine for it's light, easy-drinking style and price. Well, Osprey's Dominion Vineyards' 2007 Sauvignon Blanc ($13) keeps the price down in the "daily drinking" zone and, despite the vastly different growing 2007 growing season, brings very similar aromas and flavors to the table.

Even with the ripe growing season, this isn't a big aggressive sauvignon. Intead, light lemon and grapefruit aromas mingle with golden delicious apple and subtle herbs on a medium-intense nose.

Medium bodied with fresh acidity, the flavors are fairly simple -- grapefruit, lemon and kiwi -- with just a little herbaceousness. The finish is medium-length with a little minearlity.

It will be a long day (we're going to wrap up around 3 p.m. or so) but it will be great to taste a bunch of Hudson Valley wines and also see/meet some of my favorite regional wine blog peeps, including Debbie, Tish and Brian.

April 23, 2009

Of the 40 or so producers on Long Island, only a handful make pinot noir, and of that handful and even smaller group does it well. Osprey's Dominion Vineyards made one of the best in the 2005 vintage, one of the better vintages in the relatively brief history of Long Island wine.

Winemaker Adam Suprenant didn't bother making it 2006 and with good reason, it wasn't a great year for reds.

But Osprey's varietal pinot noir made a return with the warm, dry 2007 growing season.

The palate shows a deep core of rich black cherry, a little bit of that smoke from the nose, vanilla and cinnamon spice. Fine-grained but still grippy tannins and okay acid combine to bring structure. The finish is medium-long but there's a little raw oak on the end.

Right now, I think the oak is a little too noticeable, but this is still a young wine so that rawness will probably fade. Once it does, this wine could rival that beautiful 2005.

The Seneca Lake Wine Trail has quietly suspended one of their most popular events of the year, the 2009 Golden Nose Awards Weekend, scheduled for May 30, 2009.

“Despite how enthusiastic past attendees have been, and ostensibly driven by the weakened economy, ticket sales were not quite as robust as in years past, so rather than try to run the event with measurably diminished attendance, we have opted to quietly suspend the event and focus on the 2010 Golden Nose Award event," stated Paul Thomas, executive director of the Seneca Lake Wine Trail.

The 2008 Golden Nose Awards was one of the first Finger Lakes wine events I attended so it is near and dear to me.

Slowly but surely, Long Island wineries are getting into social media. There still aren't any blogs worth noting, but Juan E. Micieli-Martinez, the winemaker at Martha Clara Vineyards has launched a new YouTube video series, Juan-Maker. It's not the most educational video in the world, but its entertaining.

Juan has already been good for MCV's wines, so anything he can do beyond that is really just a bonus. I'm curious to see where he takes Juan-Maker.

April 22, 2009

Frederick Frank, the president of Dr. Konstantin Frank Wine Cellars, said this morning that the loss of a spill-over tasting room to fire does not change day-to-day business.

"We're open today for tastings. We're bottling wine today. Nothing has changed. We'll be taking part as planned in the wine trail event this weekend," Frank explained.

He does not know the cause of the massive fire that destroyed the new tasting room building, but he praised the firefighters from Hammondsport and other departments who responded quickly last night. "They did outstanding work, and we can't say enough how much we appreciate it. They made sure the fire was contained. It only affected one building, and there was no other damage."

Frank said he was frustrated by what he called "numerous erroneous reports" in regional media "that said the entire winery had burned down. It hasn't. It's important to make sure the truth is reported, and the truth is that we're going to be fine. We're excited to see visitors to our tasting rooms today, just as we always are."

If you're in the wine industry and you're not on Twitter yet, I won't call you an idiot, but you're really missing out. There are great discussions going on almost every day and by getting involved in them, you can not only learn from other people in the industry but also connect with your customers in a whole new way.

Sure, there is plenty of inane, useless banter too, but it's pretty easy to filter that out once you get your feet wet and understand the technology and the people.

Anyway, yesterday there was an interesting discussion amongst bloggers and some of the wine PR folks about expectations and responsibilities in the "wine samples" game. What should wineries (or PR people representing those wineries) expect when they send wines to a writer or blogger?

Some don't seem to have any expectations, which is probably the best way to go, given how some reviewers conduct themselves. Others, and I'm speaking from experience here, expect a published review -- and quickly.

I can only speak for myself, but here is what I feel is appropriate, what I owe to wineries that send me wine to review. When I accept a sample from someone, I never agree to publish a review, or that it will be a positive one, but I am agreeing to:

Taste the wine in a professional, controlled way. That means I won't guzzle it and not take any notes.

Give the winery feedback if they ask, even if I don't publish a formal review here on LENNDEVOURS or in one of my other outlets.

The first item is a given, or at least I assume that it is, but several of the PR folks and bloggers seemed (pleasantly surprised) that I consider the second item a given as well.

I think of it this way: Yes, the winery wants me to write about its wines, but I also assume that they want to know what I think. I think it's professional to offer that feedback if they ask.

I know that most "professional" critics don't agree (or act that way) but I think that's just lazy. It doesn't take me long to type up my raw, unedited notes when a winery emails me wanting to know what I thought of their wine.

This all said, I have two questions:

Wineries, what do you expect when you send out samples? Do you expect something different from a blogger than you do from Parker or WS?

Bloggers, do you feel any obligations at all when you receive samples?

I don't know any details yet, but hopefully some of the people who read this blog and offer some. Hopefully no one was hurt.

UPDATE: David Spengler, tasting room manager at Ravines Wine Cellars just sent me a message on Facebook telling me:

"About 8:45pm this evening Dr Frank's new tasting room was engulfed in
flames. Three fire companies and and couple on standby, but it was
totally lost and they (Hammondsport FD) kept it contained to the one
building. I was in the parking lot for about a hour watching before
getting back down town to let Morgan know about it. Tomorrow in the
daylight we'll see what it's left and I'll let ya know about the
investigation of what started it. I live right on the village square,
so I'm right smack dab in the center of phone calls and listen to the
scanner."

From the sounds of it, only the new tasting pavilion was damaged. The tasting room will remain open as they investigate this fire.

UPDATE 2: Mike Linehan from the Yates County Chamber of Commerce (KeukaNY.com) sent the picture you can see above. He also appeared on 13 WHAM news this morning with Evan. Watch the video.

With only twelve wineries in the Niagara region, news just doesn’t happen everyday. During most of the winter, a few wineries may only open on weekends, or in one case, one weekend out of the month. So now that winter is loosening its grip, some good news has surfaced with the melting snow.

The 2009 Finger Lakes International Competition was good to several Niagara wineries, and there was one standout result. Leonard Oakes Estate Winery was awarded a double gold medal for its 2007 Frontenac. If you haven’t heard of this grape, don’t worry, it’s not on Wine Spectator’s radar yet. Bred by the University of Minnesota, this extremely cold hardy grape is meant for the climate of Lambeau Field or other frozen tundras.

Leonard Oakes does have small plantings of red vinifera and they are a winery to watch as their young winemaker, Jonathan Oakes, begins to get experience with the family's grapes. I am looking forward to their 2007 Meritage as well as tasting this Frontenac in my next visit to our easternmost winery on the trail.

In other goings-on, the official Niagara Wine Trail guide has added two more wineries to the map, both of which are listed as coming in 2009: Black Willow Winery and Victorianbourg Estate Winery have targeted late this year to open their doors to the public. Both are north of the Escarpment and the latter is situated right off of Route 18, Lake Road, a short walk from Lake Ontario. Victorianbourg has planted mostly vinifera including the heartbreak grape, pinot noir. In the near future we will be able to compare pinot from the clay-heavy soils of the escarpment to the lighter gravel soil near the lakeshore.

Freedom Run Winery, where I get to help with all sorts of stuff, has released three estate selections last week. These are the first such estate-grown vinifera wines released to the public from the winery. Their 2008 Riesling and naked Chardonnay are still adjusting to the bottle but they are already showing potential. Their estate Pinot Noir from 2007 has been showing well for months and has finally seen the light of day in the tasting room.

In fact, this year should see plenty of estate-grown wines in local tasting rooms. Arrowhead Spring, Freedom Run, Spring Lake, Victorianbourg, and hopefully a couple others will release their first wines from estate vineyards. With plenty of area wineries sending samples to wine magazines and competitions these days, I’m sure I’ll be reporting on some scores and medals again soon.

I'll be attending again this year (it's a lot of fun). So, come sample the bounty that lurks in your own backyard. Brooklyn Uncorked runs from 4 to 8 p.m. Members of the public can sample during the 4-hour event for $40.

I had a feeling that the new Gewurztraminers from Red Newt Cellars would illicit a response from a few readers. I just knew that some people would have a negative reaction to the prices, regardless of quality.

The price of New York wines -- the truths and the myths -- is another topic for another time (and soon) though. Today, I want to tell you a bit about the other single-vineyard Gewurztraminer made in 2007 by Dave Whiting at Red Newt.

After much deliberating, I can now say that Red Newt Cellars 2008 Curry Creek Vineyard Gewurztraminer ($41) is my favorite of the two wines, maybe because it's a bit more "classic Gewurztraminer."

Compared to its sister wine, this is definitely the big brother. The nose, while still a bit taut, is spicy, with ginger, ripe pear and minerals.

The palate brings big spice, lychee and mineral flavors along with more pear and apple ripeness. The mid-palate is slightly juicy but the acidity is big and crunchy, pointing to potential longevity. The finish is long and dry with orange pith bitterness.

This is a real Gewurztraminer-lover's Gewurztraminer. I happen to be one and I really enjoyed this one -- especially on day two when the nose was a bit more expressive.

April 20, 2009

The Sisson Family Fund has been set up in our friend Ben Sisson's
memory to help financially support his wife Alice Wise and their
children Ethan and Emma during these difficult times. Our primary goal
is to enable Alice, Ethan and Emma to remain in their family home as
the children mature and to allow the family to maintain a continuing
quality of life within their community of family and friends. Our
enduring friendship and love of Alice, Ben, Ethan and Emma will help
Alice raise her beautiful children. Providing supplemental financial
support is greatly needed over the next few years. We encourage all
friends and family to attend our annual fundraiser in Ben Sisson's
honor and to continue to tithe whenever possible. The joy Ben Sisson
gave all of us in life, we can give back now, in love.

This event will be a celebration of Ben
Sisson's life. It will be an
opportunity to share your favorite stories with friends and colleagues.
Wine and appetizers will be served at the beautiful Bedell Cellars
tasting room, and a Silent Auction will be held with a variety of items
donated for the cause.

Nena, Jackson and I will be going and I'd encourage every person who reads this blog to attend. There will probably be some amazing auction lots that any Long Island wine lover would want to bid on.

Peconic Bay Winery's Jim Silver with his favorite wine website in the background.

Jim Silver’s wine career began a little over 20 years ago. Over the course of those two decades, he's held just about ever wine-related job (except winemaker and vineyard manager) that you can think of. He's been wine buyer for a large retailer in Delaware and sommelier at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia. He's also worked in the New York region representing Rémy Amerique, Grupo Codorniu and the Hess Collection.

Here on Long Island Jim has served as the National Sales Director for Pindar Vineyards before becoming Senior Vice President of Bedell Cellars. Most recently, he's become the General Manager of the Peconic Bay Winery.

With all of that varied experience, he brings a unique perspective to the region and I'm sure he's going to do some interesting things at Peconic Bay. But for today, he answers our LENNDEVOURS Q&A questions:

What (and where) was the first bottle of wine you remember drinking?
I started enjoying wine while attending restaurant school in Philadelphia in 1988. I can recall very well drinking a lot of Hungarian red wines that were $2.99 a bottle at the time, I forget the name of them though – one was a cab and one was a merlot.

A more specific memory was the purchase of a 1967 Chateau Gruaud-Larose St. Emilion. Wow, it was tough to justify the super high price of $9.99 in the Pennsylvania state store, especially for a poor student like me, but I really wanted to experience a well-aged Bordeaux. I even scribbled my tasting notes into the inside cover of Alexis Lichine’s Wine Encyclopedia. (It was definitely not a great vintage, and tasted a bit like ashes, but it was my first somewhat intellectual wine experience.)

What event/bottle/etc made you decide that you wanted to be in the wine industry?
In 1989 I was studying in France as part of my culinary training. We made a visit to the Clos de Vougeot in the Cote d’Or. I don’t recall all of the circumstances perfectly, but to this day just the taste of a Burgundy, simple or great, really makes my heart beat faster. Those pinots are the oldest and truest wine love I have. I have similar feelings for Chablis, which I visited on the same trip.

You could say I discovered “terrior” there, and it’s guided me since, in all facets of my life and career.

Which of your current wines is your favorite and why?
Peconic Bay Winery’s Steel Fermented Chardonnay is great wine. It is reminiscent of Cru Chablis, with really well balanced acidity and terrific concentration. It is very aromatic and very long. In fact, the aromas are very distinct – as it seems the clone of this chardonnay here gives a particular musqué smell, sort of along the sauvignon blanc line. It’s unique to this vineyard. Plus, lately I’ve found markedly less interest in oaky flavors. I’m interested in discovering the natural terrior of a wine, not in masking it – Greg Gove is such a masterful winemaker in that sense. Even our La Barrique wine is only very lightly oaky.

What has surprised you most about being a member of the Long Island wine community?
I am surprised by the unrecognized potential here on LI. Time and again, local wineries are producing classic wines, sometimes of stunning quality, and yet so often you can come across something so positively boring you wonder if that winemaker wasn’t asleep when it was bottled.

I spent many years representing French, Italian, and Californian producers who made fine wines, but none of them would ever have the opportunity to improve as dramatically as Long Island does. The sky is the limit here. The conscientious and thoughtful winemaker here has the potential to do almost anything given the right conditions. (We really are like Napa in the 60s or Sonoma in the 70s.) The time is right for the rise of the East Coast vineyard, especially Long Island. What is surprising is that I didn’t know it sooner. What’s equally surprising is how many people still don’t know it.

Other than your own wines, what wine/beer/liquor most often fills your glass?
Take 3 oz. of Michter’s Straight Rye, 1 oz. Noilly Prat Sweet Vermouth, three shakes of Angostura bitters, a maraschino cherry, and shake on ice very hard. Then pour it into an up-glass. It should be brown in color with a light foam on the top. That is the only real cocktail. A Manhattan.

Scotch is nice too sometimes. Almost always it’s going to be wine though, and it’s usually a Cotes-du-Rhone. Affordable and delicious. I still have beer in my fridge from Thanksgiving 2007.

Is there a 'classic' wine or wine and food pairing that you just can't make yourself enjoy?
I’m with Chris Stamp on this one. Whoever thought up chocolate and red wine is a little cuckoo. But I am also of the opinion that food and wine pairing in general is somewhat overstated too. There are plenty of “matches” that work well, like Sauternes and Roquefort, Chablis and Oysters, merlot and lamb loin, but 99.9% of good wine matches are good because they tend not to interfere with each other.

A pairing is complimentary when they do no damage to each other. That’s really the key. As soon as one of them (the dish or the wine) proves dominant, the match is lost. The best idea is to chose simple wines with complex foods, and complex wines with simple foods. And don’t forget that many wines can be obliterated by certain foods, (lots of cheeses comes to mind, so does artichoke) – the pitfalls do exist. Magical wine pairings don’t occur in a vacuum, they include the atmosphere of the room, the attitude of the diners, the romance of the event, and the anticipation of enjoyment as much as anything else.

Wine enjoyment is about more than just the wine itself. Describe the combination of wine, locations, food, company, etc. that would make (or has made) for the ultimate wine-drinking experience.
That would be me, my wife, and a random selection of good friends I’ve made in this industry over the last 20 years. Add grilled quails, foie gras, and some caviar on blini, three bottles of Krug, six or seven bottles of Richebourg and Echezeaux and I’d say that would be the ultimate fantasy drinking experience.

Some of my real-life wine-drinking experiences over the years have been so decadent and fascinating, you might not believe me if I told you. Some wines I enjoyed regularly 20 years ago, cost more than my car today, but that’s part of what’s so delightful about this business. I couldn’t imagine being in any other business but this one. How lucky is that?

April 16, 2009

When I heard that Red Newt Wine Cellars was releasing two single-vineyard Gewurztraminers, I was intrigued. Did the two vineyards really warrant separate bottlings, or was it a marketing ploy along the lines of "reserve" labels?

And when I heard they were price at $36 and $42, I'll admit that I even thought to myself "Have they lost their minds?"

Now that I've tasted them, I can say definitively that yes, the two vineyards (in 2007 anyway) led to distinct wines worthy of single-vineyard labeling.

Are the prices exorbitant? That's really up to you, but I can tell you this: these are expressive, distinctive wines that deserve your attention and show what is possible in the Finger Lakes with the 'other' aromatic white grape. You know, the one that isn't riesling.

The nose on this Red Newt Cellars 2007 Sawmill Creek Vineyards Gewurztraminer ($36), made with fruit from Jim Hazlitt's Sawmill Creek Vineyard, is an attractive melange of juicy ripe pears, dried orange peel, kiwi and white flowers with subtle spice and lychee notes in the background.

April 15, 2009

Today is Wine Blogging Wednesday #56. I know I say it almost every month, but it is still fascinating to me that the virtual wine tasting I founded 56 months ago is still going strong.

This month, we're hosted by John, who is better known as The Corkdork. The theme is Fine Kosher Wines, something that I knew little about (and still probably don't, given the small sampling that I did.)

Before this edition of WBW, I actually had never knowingly tasted a Kosher wine. I guess it's possible that I had some Manischewitz in college or something, but I don't think so. In that sense, I was going into this without any of the negative bias that some seem to have for the category.

Nena and I tasted through six different Kosher wines (5 were "Kosher for Passover" which is a different sub-category). Rather than offer full reviews on everything, I'll give you a basic rundown.

The two chardonnays showed way more oak than I like. The 2006 Yarden was remarkable only in how utterly unremarkable it was. Any cheap chardonnay on the market could stand it -- except for that Kosher angle. The 2006 Recanati was also overoaked for my tastes, but had great acidity and seemed to have more elegance and better fruit. I'd be curious to taste a version with the oak turned down a few notches.

Most of the reds were mediocre to good. If you like California petite sirah, you'd enjoy the Recananti Reserve Petite Sirah-Zin. It has all that big, dark fruit and a little spice. With burgers, it'd be great I think.

But, my favorite of the lot was the Tzora Vineayrds 2006 Givat Hachalukim Cabernet Sauvignon ($23 at Israeli Wine Direct), perhaps because its a bit more cool climate in style than the others. The nose has nice dark berry fruit with is peppery and thyme-basil notes as well.

The flavors closely match the nose, with the pepper-herbs stepping forward maybe a bit more. With medium body and softly gripping tannins that are well integrated rather than angular or abusive to the palate, this is the sort of balanced cabernet that I prefer to the hefty left coast renditions. The finish isn't long, but it's long enough at the price point.

So thanks, Corkdork for forcing me to try some of these wines. I don't really have much reason to explore Kosher wines otherwise or further, but the Tzora has me curious about Israeli wines for sure.

April 14, 2009

Because I have to taste several Kosher wines for WBW #56 tomorrow, today's review is going to be a quick one for a simple, but solid Pindar Vineyards 2007 Peacock Chardonnay ($11).

This chardonnay was ermented in stainless steel and with an unknown amount of oak aging (the website doesn't say), this wine is very fruity on the nose with pineapple and pear aromas backed by hints vanilla and even some citrus blossom.

As I said, simple, but solidly made, the palate is medium-bodied with more pear-pineapple flavors, a bit more vanilla and just a sprinkle of toasty oak in the background. Good, but not great acidity, brings balance and there is an interesting grapefruit note on the average finish.

The tropical, fruity character reminds me a bit of some Aussie chards I've tasted, but there's better acidity here. It's a good example of the kind of wine I'd expect to get if I were to order a "glass of chardonnay" at a bar. Not that I would... but if I did, I'd be happy with this.

It's not distinctive, but for $11, it delivers good fruit and enough acidity.